☠️⚰️BORDER DEATHS: Opaqueness & Lack Of Accountability Common Threads According To New Reports!

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/09/us/politics/border-patrol-migrant-deaths.html

Eileen Sullivan reports in The NY Times:

By Eileen Sullivan

Jan. 9, 2022, 5:00 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON — Angie Simms had been searching for her 25-year-old son for a week, filing a missing persons report and calling anyone who might have seen him, when the call came last August. Her son, Erik A. Molix, was in a hospital in El Paso, Texas, where he was strapped to his bed, on a ventilator and in a medically induced coma.

Mr. Molix had suffered head trauma after the S.U.V. he was driving with nine undocumented immigrants inside rolled over near Las Cruces, N.M., while Border Patrol agents pursued him at speeds of up to 73 miles per hour. He died Aug. 15, nearly two weeks after the crash; even by then, no one from the Border Patrol or any other law enforcement or government agency had contacted his family.

The number of migrants crossing the border illegally has soared, with the Border Patrol recording the highest number of encounters in more than six decades in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. With the surge has come an increase in deaths and injuries from high-speed chases by the Border Patrol, a trend that Customs and Border Protection, which oversees the Border Patrol, attributes to a rise in brazen smugglers trying to flee its agents.

From 2010 to 2019, high-speed chases by the Border Patrol resulted in an average of 3.5 deaths a year, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. In 2020, there were 14 such deaths; in 2021, there were 21, the last on Christmas.

The agency recorded more than 700 “use of force” incidents on or near the southern border in the last fiscal year. Customs and Border Protection does not disclose how many of those ended in death, or how many high-speed chases take place each year.

Crossing the border without documentation or helping people do so is full of risk regardless of the circumstances, and stopping such crossings — and the criminal activity of smugglers — is central to the Border Patrol’s job. But the rising deaths raise questions about how far the agency should go with pursuits of smugglers and migrants, and when and how agents should engage in high-speed chases.

Customs and Border Protection has yet to provide Ms. Simms, a fifth-grade teacher in San Diego, with an explanation of what happened to her son. She saw a news release it issued two weeks after the crash; officials say it is not the agency’s responsibility to explain. She said she understood that officials suspected her son was involved in illegal activity, transporting undocumented immigrants.

“But that doesn’t mean you have to die for it,” she said.

Customs and Border Protection, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, has a policy stating that agents and officers can conduct high-speed chases when they determine “that the law enforcement benefit and need for emergency driving outweighs the immediate and potential danger created by such emergency driving.” The A.C.L.U. argues that the policy, which the agency publicly disclosed for the first time last month, gives agents too much discretion in determining the risk to public safety.

In a statement to The New York Times, Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security, said that while “C.B.P. agents and officers risk their lives every day to keep our communities safe,” the Homeland Security Department “owes the public the fair, objective and transparent investigation of use-of-force incidents to ensure that our highest standards are maintained and enforced.”

But previously unreported documents and details of the crash that killed Mr. Molix shed light on what critics say is a troubling pattern in which the Border Patrol keeps its operations opaque, despite the rising human toll of aggressive enforcement actions.

. . . .

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ACLU of Texas Released the following related fact sheet:

https://www.aclutx.org/en/fact-sheet-deadly-trend-border-patrol-vehicle-pursuits

FACT SHEET: THE DEADLY TREND OF BORDER PATROL VEHICLE PURSUITSpastedGraphic.png

Vehicle pursuits may make for exciting movie scenes and reality TV, but in real life, police chases are dangerous and often deadly. Yet the United States Border Patrol, the largest law enforcement agency in the country, increasingly engages in vehicle pursuits that result in mounting injuries and deaths. The agency operates with almost no transparency. This culture of impunity puts lives and communities at risk of grave harm each time a chase occurs.

The ACLU of Texas and ACLU of New Mexico partnered to produce the following fact sheet on the disturbing trend of deadly Border Patrol vehicle pursuits. We analyzed Border Patrol’s recently released vehicle pursuit policy,  which reveals troubling discretionary authority given to agents. We also evaluate the department’s deeply flawed oversight and investigation protocols surrounding the pursuits, including the involvement of Border Patrol’s Critical Incident Teams –  internal investigative units tasked with protecting the agency from liability and further obscuring the truth behind deadly vehicle pursuits.

Click the link below to download and read the fact sheet.

STAY INFORMED

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RELATED ISSUES

DOCUMENTS

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Read Sullivan’s complete article and get the full version of the ACLU fact sheet at the above links.

ACLU of Texas Attorney Shaw Drake is one of my former Georgetown Law “Refugee Law & Policy” students and a proud member of the New Due Process Army. Proud of you Shaw! 😎It’s what the “new generation of practical scholars” or “applied scholars” does!👍🏼⚖️

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

01-10-22

⚖️🗽PROFESSOR CRISTINA RODRIGUEZ (YALE LAW) & SHAW DRAKE (ACLU) AMONG NDPA HEADLINERS @ 2021 ST. MARY’S LAW IMMIGRATION SYMPOSIUM!

2021 Immigration Symposium

The Road to Rehabilitation: Reconnecting with Humanity

The Scholar: St. Mary’s Law Review on Race and Social Justice Cordially Invites You

2021 Immigration Symposium

Friday, Feb. 26th, 10am-4pm

This is an online event.

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN AT:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2021-immigration-symposium-tickets-140034403671

Our Symposium’s focus will be on the practical aspects of immigration law and the current policy debates surrounding the field. Our goal is to present a compelling CLE program for immigration and non-immigration practitioners alike, as well as to provide an engaging educational experience for current law students. This year’s theme is “The Road to Rehabilitation: Reconnecting with Humanity.”

Attendees will have the opportunity to hear a variety of notable immigration attorneys, leaders, and scholars speak on current issues within the field of immigration law in the United States.

Our event is made possible through the generous sponsorship of Terry Bassham (’85) & Zulema Carrasco Bassham.

Featured Speakers and Panelists

Register Today. We Look Forward to Seeing You.

This CLE event is pending approval by the State Bar of Texas for 5 CLE credit hours (including 1 hour of ethics).

Registration is now open and available through February 26:

  • Attorney registration $85
  • Government employee and non-attorney registration $55
  • Immigration volunteer registration $25
  • Student registration $10 (scholarships available for St. Mary’s School of Law students only; please email lawscholar@stmarytx.edu from your St. Mary’s email address telling us why you would like to attend)
  • St. Mary’s School of Law faculty/staff and Scholar Volume 23 member registration is free
  • Press/media registration is free

Register by clicking here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2021-immigration-symposium-tickets-140034403671

Hosted by The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Hosted by The Scholar: St. Mary’s Law Review on Race and Social Justice

The Scholar: St. Mary’s Law Review on Race and Social Justice is a student-run law review at St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas. The goal of The Scholar is to give a voice to the voiceless and the vulnerable in our society. The Scholar publishes three issues per volume on a variety of legal topics through the lens of race and social justice. Additionally, The Scholar hosts an Immigration Symposium annually during the spring semester.

Background image courtesy of Good Point, goodpointagency.com.

Illustrated by Annelisa Leinbach, annelisaleinbach.com.

Cristina Rodriguez photo by Harold Shapiro.

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Professor Cristina Rodriguez is the co-author (with Professor Adam B. Cox of NYU Law) of the widely acclaimed book The President & Immigration Law. Recently she worked on EOIR issues for the Biden-Harris Transition Team.

Shaw Drake is Staff Attorney & Policy Counsel, Border & Immigrants’ Rights, ACLU of Texas. He was one of my all-star Refugee Law & Policy students @ Georgetown Law and a Charter Member of the New Due Process Army (“NDPA”).

Last year, I was on this outstanding program. It was one of my last “in person” appearances before COVID restrictions set in.

🇺🇸🗽⚖️👍🏼Due Process Forever!

PWS

02-07-21

FLASH: AILA WITHDRAWS SUPPORT FOR MORE U.S. IMMIGRATION JUDGES & EOIR FUNDING! — UNDER TRUMP/SESSIONS REGIME “increased judges will not necessarily promote due process and fairness for those appearing in proceedings!”

“From: Greg Chen [mailto:GChen@aila.org]
Sent: Wednesday, July 05, 2017 10:06 AM
To: AILA Interior Enforcement List
Cc: AILA Interior Enforcement List; Kate Voigt; Laura Lynch; Kerri Talbot
Subject: [interiorenforcement] AILA shifted position on IJ funding – CJS approps

Everyone,

AILA’s board just voted to change our position on the funding of immigration judges: in brief, AILA will no longer be supporting increased funding for IJs.  The change in position was motivated by two principal concerns: 1) additional funding for judges will enable this administration to deport more people more rapidly; and 2) increased judges will not necessarily promote due process and fairness for those appearing in proceedings, esp under the current administration.

We will convey this to key friends on the Hill, but we haven’t decided how actively we plan to push this.

Here’s what the House FY18 CJS bill includes, according to the summary posted by House approps:

Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) – Funding for the EOIR is increased by $64.5 million, for a total of $505 million. This increase will provide for 65 additional immigration judge teams to process immigration reviews more quickly, and reduce the backlog of pending cases.

Gregory Z. Chen, Esq.
Director of Government Relations
Direct: 202-507-7615 I Cell: 202.716-5818 I Email: gchen@aila.org American Immigration Lawyers Association
Main: 202.507.7600 I Fax: 202.783.7853 I www.aila.org<http://www.aila.org/>
1331 G Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20005″

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I can understand the sentiment that brought this about. I’m not sure, however, that this isn’t an exercise in “kicking the cat.” The real problem here is lack of independence and the highly inappropriate, facially unethical, role of the DOJ, which Congress created, allowed to fester, and failed to date to fix. And the type of misguided GOP agenda behind an atrocity like H.R. 391 also doesn’t help.

Interesting that the last several Administrations have mismanaged the Immigration Courts to the point where they appear to be doing exactly the opposite of their single mission: guaranteeing fairness and due process for all!

With this particular Congress and Administration, AILA’s change in position probably won’t mean much. Only White Nationalist and restrictionist groups seem to have any influence.

Sadly, years of hard-won progress in establishing due process in the Immigration Court system have now been squandered. EOIR and the Immigration Courts have returned to the mess that they were before EOIR was created.

Bad time to be seeking justice in America! Thanks to my former Georgetown Law Refugee Law & Policy student Shaw Drake for sending me this item!

PWS

07-27-17